AN EXAMINATION OF DESMOND FORDS BOOK

RIGHT WITH GOD, RIGHT NOW

Erwin R. Gane, Ph.D.

This book by Desmond Ford is characterized by eloquently expressed truth interlaced with
eloquently expressed error. My concern is to point out those aspects of his teaching that are
unbiblical. I am not interested in attacking the author or in any way maligning his character. My
purpose is to point out to the reader that Ford has misinterpreted the righteousness by faith message
of the book of Romans and, in so doing, has undermined the basic teachings of Scripture as
understood by Seventh-day Adventists. If I were to accept Fords teachings, I could no longer
believe in victory over sin before the second coming of Jesus, nor could I believe in the
investigative judgment doctrine so clearly taught in Daniel 7 and 8. I could not believe in the
perfecting latter rain or a close of probation, beyond which Gods people will no longer sin. I could
no longer believe in the teachings of Ellen G. White, because Ford repeatedly contradicts her. In
other words, if I were to accept Fords interpretations of Scripture, I could no longer be a Seventh-
day Adventist, because he contradicts the understandings of Scripture which we have consistently
held. My appeal to the reader is to examine every statement in the light of the overall teachings of
the Bible. Selective study of Scripture, designed to prove a theological theory, will never do! If
they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them (Isa. 8:20).
I will go through Fords book page by page and point out the passages that I believe to be
unbiblical, and I will explain why I believe them unbiblical:

Page xii: 2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us that the day of our death was the Calvary Good
Friday. If one died for all, then all died. Not only did Christ die for us as our Substitute, but
we died with him who was our representative. At Calvary, legally all of us paid for our sins
yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Therefore, it is our great privilege to know, as surely as the
penitent thief came to know, that paradise is ours this very day because we believe in that love
manifested for us at Golgotha!
See also Fords discussion of Romans 5:6-10, pages 81, 82, 84. See also his discussion of
Romans 6:2-11, pages 95, 96, 98. Compare p. 271.

This is a misinterpretation of 2 Corinthians 5:14. We did not die at the cross, Jesus died,
and He died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2; 4:10). All died when Christ died only in
the sense that His death made provision for all of us to die to sin. We do not enjoy the benefits of
Christs sacrifice until we receive Him as Savior and Lord. Those who receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). But
as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name (John 1:12). The one who believes in Him has the gift of everlasting life
(John 3:16). He who believes in Him is not condemned: but he who does not believe is
condemned already (John 3:18).
This being so, it cannot be true that at Calvary, legally all of us paid for our sins of
yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We did not pay the penalty for our sins, Christ did, and we do not
die to sin until we become born-again Christians. Not until we accept the forgiveness that Christ
earned for us on the cross do we die to sin. When we come to Jesus, confessing the sins we have
committed, we are forgiven because Jesus paid the penalty for them on Calvary (1 John 1:9; Prov.
28:13; Jer. 3:13). But this does not imply that the sins of tomorrow are automatically legally
forgiven because of Calvary. The sins of tomorrow must be confessed tomorrow. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1
John 1:9).
We are united to Christ in the likeness of His death when our old man, the old life of
habitual sinning, dies (Rom. 6:5, 6). The next verse translates literally from the Greek text: For he
who has died, has been justified [dedikaiotai) from sin (Rom. 6:7). Justification is the death of the
old life of habitual sinning, the death of the old man. This is the experience of those who accept
Jesus as Savior and Lord. Then we are buried with Him through baptism into death (verse 4).
Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in
me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). Paul is not saying that he was crucified when Jesus was
crucified. He is saying that he was crucified with Christ when he accepted Christ by faith. Paul
counted all things but loss, so that he could know Christ (Phil. 3:8). He wanted to be found in
Him, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:9, 10). He was conformed to His death only
when he accepted Christ and was found in Him, being a recipient of His righteousness.
In Colossians 3:3, Paul wrote: For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
They died when they accepted Jesus as their Savior. Consider the context: If then you were raised
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
(verse 1). They died to sin and were raised to newness of life when they gave their hearts to Jesus.
The unconditional pardon of sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would
show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the
government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation.Patriarchs and
Prophets, p. 522.
Yes, every act, however secret you may have thought you were in its committal, has been
open to God, to Christ, and to the holy angels. A book is written of all the doings of the children of
men. Not an item of this record can be concealed. There is only one provision made for the
transgressor. Faithful repentance and confession of sin, and faith in the cleansing blood of Christ,
will bring forgiveness, and pardon will be written against his name.2 T, 292, 293.

Page 1: The bad news in the book of Romans is that every thought we have is defiled.
Every emotion of our heart, every tendency of our mind, and every inclination of the flesh is
taintedin every one of usuntil the second coming of Jesus and glorification.
Page 15: Sin remains in the Christian until glorification, although it should not reign.
Its there, but it should not dominate. But it is there.
See also Ford, pp. 93, 239, 253.

The book of Romans does not teach that! Quite the contrary! Speaking of the justified

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believer, Paul writes: But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.
For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to
more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when
you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. . . . But now having been set free
from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting
life (Rom. 6:17-22).
A person who is a slave of righteousness and who is experiencing holiness does not have
every thought . . . defiled. Paul says that now we have been delivered from the law, having died
to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter (Rom. 7:6). A believer serving in the newness of the Spirit is not one whose every
thought is defiled, nor can it be true that every emotion of his heart is tainted.
Paul speaks of the justified believer as being indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9). The
Spirit in the heart is Christ in the heart, and the Spirit is life because of righteousness (verse 10).
An individual who is thus indwelt by the Holy Spirit and who is, thereby, experiencing
righteousness is not defiled in every thought. Paul categorically contradicts Desmond Ford in
2 Corinthians 10:4, 5: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling
down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (Italics mine.)
Gods end-time faithful believers are sealed prior to the close of probation (Rev. 7:1-3).
These sealed believers will ultimately stand with Christ on Mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). And in
their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God (Rev. 14:5).
They are found without fault before the second coming of Jesus; thats why they are sealed. Such
believers cannot be said to be tainted in every emotion of the heart, every tendency of the mind,
and every inclination of the flesh.
Ford has denied the validity of the end-time sealing work that God provides for His faithful
people.
Page 11: None of us can get through the judgment without that Substitute. . . . But we
have a Substitute in the judgment. Thats Christ.
Undoubtedly Christs righteousness is put to our account. In that sense He is our Substitute.
That is only part of the story. There are many texts in Scripture that speak of God judging us by our
works. Ford obviously favors the popular view that since Christs works are perfect, and He is our
Substitute, our works dont have to be perfect. This view teaches that Christ is the One judged, and
since He is perfect and innocent, we are counted so. Consider the passages that instruct us to be
overcomers in Christ. For example:
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord (2 Cor. 7:1).
As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written,
Be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15, 16; cf. John 5:14; 8:11).
How are we to be holy? Christ provides the power:
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are
not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has
overcome the worldour faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus

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is the Son of God? (1 John 5:3-5).
Because the Lord gives us the power to be overcomers by abundantly supplying us His
grace (1 Cor. 1:4-9), He judges us by our works. Our works give evidence of the effective
functioning of His grace in our hearts:
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy: for You render to each one according to his work
(Ps. 62:12).
I the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind. Even to give every man according to his ways.
And according to the fruit of his doings (Jer. 17:10).
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will
reward each according to his works (Matt. 16:27).
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the
things done in the body, according to what he has done whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).
. . . who will render to each one according to his deeds (Rom. 2:6).
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each ones work,
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear (1 Peter 1:17).
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books (Rev. 20:12).
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every one according
to his work (Rev. 22:12).
Since in the judgment we are judged by our works, its not true to say that we are accounted
innocent only because Jesus perfect works are counted for us. It is also true that His righteousness
is given to us enabling us to perform good works that can be exonerated in the judgment. The
righteousness is always His, and the glory belongs to Him alone, because our works of obedience
are done only when we receive the gift of His righteousness. Our works are done in God (John
3:21).
Page 14: A Division on Justification: This is the legal and verbal opposite of
condemnation. Its a bright color in contrast to the shadow.
Because condemnation is regarded as a legal verdict issued by the Judge, justification is also
regarded as such a legal verdict. This argument, often presented in support of forensic-only
justification, is faulted, because the verdict of condemnation is in view of the guilty spiritual
condition of the condemned person. Even so, as will become more apparent in what follows,
justification is a declaration of a reality. God never declares innocent those who are not so in view
of their faith/grace relationship with Christ.
Of the forty-one instances of the verb to justify (tsadaq) in the Hebrew Old Testament,
there is none in which God declares righteous a person who is not so. Exodus 23:7, for example,
reads literally, Keep away from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous do not kill, for I will
not justify the wicked. If the Lord will not justify the wicked whom will He justify? Obviously
the righteous. Who are the righteous? The immediate context (Exodus 23:4-7) reads as follows:
If you meet your enemys ox or his ass going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you
see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it,
you shall help him to lift it up. You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his suit. Keep
far from a false charge, and do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit [justify] the
wicked.

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 Hence, the righteous whom the Lord will justify are those who help their enemies when they
are in trouble, those who give justice to the poor, those who tell the truth, those who preserve the
lives of innocent and righteous people.
So God justifies people who are ethically righteous. Is this righteousness by mans works?
Indeed no! Why not? Because the overall context of this passage in Exodus indicates that the one
who is obeying the commandments and ethical stipulations of Yahweh is the one who has entered
into covenant relationship with Him. The covenant is a heart union between the believer and His
God. God did not justify the righteous person as a meritorious reward for his good ethical conduct.
He legally justified him because of his commitment to the covenant-keeping God, and this
commitment was expressed in good ethical conduct. The Lord says He will not justify the wicked.
He never declares righteous the person who has not been rendered righteous by a covenant
relationship with Himself.

Pages 15, 16: Luthers Experience

Luther is quoted as though he agreed with Fords concept of justification. What did Luther
really say? In 1545, a year before his death, in the Preface to the Complete Edition of Luthers
Latin Writings, He described his 1514 discovery:
At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the
words, namely, In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, He who through faith is
righteous shall live. There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which
the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of
God is revealed by the gospel, namely the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies
us by faith, as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live. Here I felt that I was
altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face
of the entire Scriptures showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory.
I also found in other terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is, what God does in us, the power
of God, with which he makes us strong, the wisdom of God, with which he makes us wise, the
strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.
And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before
hated the word righteousness of God. Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to
paradise. Later I read Augustines The Spirit and the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he,
too, interpreted Gods righteousness in a similar way, as the righteousness with which God clothes
us when he justifies us.Luthers Works (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1960), vol. 34, p. 337.
Italics mine.
Luther found a Scriptural analogy to the phrase, the righteousness of God. He likened it
to the work of God, that is, what God does in us. When he discovered this truth, he felt that he
was born again. And he identified Gods righteousness as the righteousness with which God
clothes us when he justifies us.
In other words, Luther did not agree with Ford that justification is only a heavenly
declaration that we are righteous. He saw justification as transformation, as God clothing us with
his righteousness.
Luthers 1535, Lectures on Galatians represents his mature theology. He wrote:
Therefore the Christ who is grasped by faith and who lives in the heart is the true Christian
righteousness, on account of which God counts us righteous and grants us eternal life.Luthers

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Works, vol. 26, p. 130.
Here it is to be noted that these three things are joined together: faith, Christ, and
acceptance or imputation. Faith takes hold of Christ and has Him present, enclosing Him as the
ring encloses the gem. And whoever is found having this faith in the Christ who is grasped in the
heart, him God accounts as righteous.Ibid., p. 132.
Because you have taken hold of Christ by faith, through whom you are righteous, you
should now go and love God and your neighbor.Ibid., p. 133.
For to the extent that he is a Christian, he is above the Law and sin, because in his heart he
has Christ, the Lord of the Law, as a ring has a gem.Ibid., p. 134.

Pages 16, 17: Ours is a God who justifies the ungodly. (See Romans 4:5.) The Old
Testament forbids such a practice. (Deuteronomy 25:1; Proverbs 17:15.) It says, Judges
must not justify the wicked. God breaks his own law when he justifies the ungodly! Yet, in a
higher sense, he keeps it. God does justify the wicked. Were all wicked. Weve all gone out
of the way. Weve all been unprofitable. Weve all been selfish. We still are selfish.
Selfishness tempts us every hour, every conscious minute.
See also Ford, p. 143.
Page 68: Theres not a single inclination of the heart, a disposition of the flesh, that
isnt tainted by our selfishness, even after conversion.
For other Ford Statements on imputation of Righteousness (Romans 4), see pp. 59, 63,
66.
So, according to Ford, God justifies ungodly people, contrary to His own law, and they
remain ungodly. Romans 4:4, 5 reads: Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace
but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is accounted for righteousness. An employer is in debt to his employee. The employee has
earned the money, and he expects to be paid. By contrast, the person who has faith in Christ does
not work for the gift of righteousness; he simply trusts in Christ to bestow righteousness upon him.
God declares the believer to be that which He makes him. In fact, Paul uses the same Greek verb in
Romans 4:4 that he uses in verse 5. The verb is logizomai. The Hebrew equivalent is chashav.
Both verbs have a range of meanings. As used in Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:3, these verbs mean
to impute, to count, to reckon, to consider as belonging to, to regard as, treat as, credit
to. There are 36 passages in the Old Testament that give chashav these closely related
connotations. Never does God count something to be so that is not so.
For example, Psalm 106:30, 31 tells us that the act of Phinehas was reckoned to him as
righteousness. The point is that his act gave evidence that he was, indeed, a righteous man (cf.
Num. 25:10-13). Numbers 18:27-32 instructs that the priests who were paid from tithe were
themselves to pay tithe on what they received. Having done that, what remained of the peoples
tithe was reckoned to the priests as an actual gift of produce to them. Joshua 13:3 indicates that land
reckoned as Canaanite was still in Philistine hands. It was reckoned to the people who possessed
it.
In Romans 4, Pauls point is that the imputation of Christs righteousness is a legal
accounting of a tangible gift. God never declares you righteous without making you so. If God
declared something that wasnt true, He would be a liar. If He declared us righteous without

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making us so, that would be a legal fiction. God doesnt say, as Ford thinks, that He declares you
righteous in heaven, even though you remain unrighteous on earth. God doesnt say that now that
He has declared you righteous, you can go on sinning and you will be saved anyway. Something
happens in heaven, and at the same moment something happens in your heart. The thing that
happens in heaven is that God declares you righteous in Christ. The thing that happens in your
heart is that God bestows the righteousness of Christ upon you by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Imputation of righteousness is a legal declaration of a tangible gift. And that gift of righteousness is
the gift of spiritual power.
Another Old Testament passage that illustrates the point is 2 Samuel 4:2. The latter part of
the verse says: Beeroth is reckoned to Benjamin. Now the interesting point is that Beeroth was a
town that was given to the tribe of Benjamin. The text in the Greek Old Testament uses the same
verb that is used in Romans, chapter 4. Beeroth was reckoned, counted, imputed, to the tribe of
Benjamin. When the Israelites were dividing up the land between the various tribes, they sat in a
committee and decided that the town Beeroth would be imputed, or reckoned, to the tribe of
Benjamin. That was a legal decision. But it was a legal decision that involved the actual gift of the
town Beeroth to the tribe of Benjamin (cf. Josh. 9:17; 18:21-25). So the legal decision was
accompanied by an actual, tangible gift.
That is exactly how Paul is using the verb impute in Romans, chapter 4. Abrahams faith
union with God was reckoned, imputed, or counted as righteousness because Gods righteousness
was given to him by the Holy Spirit. There was a legal accounting of an experiential fact (see Gal.
3:1-14; James 2:21-24). You believe in Jesus; God legally decides that Jesus righteousness will be
counted or imputed to you. That imputation means that God legally counts that which is an actual
gift. Imputation is a legal accounting of an actual gift. God declares you righteous in Christ, and at
the same moment makes you so by bestowing the righteousness of Jesus upon you by the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Ellen White understood imputed righteousness in the two ways it is used in Romans 4:
1. The righteousness of Christ is put to the believers account: If you give yourself to Him
[Christ], and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you
are accounted righteous. Christs character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted
before God as if you had not sinned.Steps to Christ, p. 62; see also Selected Messages, book 1, p.
367.
2. The righteousness of Christ is bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon the heart of the believer:
By receiving His imputed righteousness, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we
become like Him,Ellen G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1098.
In ourselves we are sinners; but in Christ we are righteous. Having made us righteous
through the imputed righteousness of Christ, God pronounces us just, and treats us as just.
Selected Messages, book 1, p. 394.
He has become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Through
faith in His name He imputes unto us His righteousness, and it becomes a living principle in our
life.That I May Know Him, p. 302.
Let perfect obedience be rendered to God through the imputed righteousness of Christ, and
we shall reveal to the world the fact that God loves us as he loves Jesus.Ellen G. White, Signs of
the Times, May 28, 1896.
When God justifies the wicked, He transforms them and simultaneously declares the

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transformation. He certainly does not break His Old Testament law! The justified dont remain
wicked. Study the results of justification in the book of Romans. And having been set free from
sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18). Christ died that the righteous requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit (Rom. 8:3, 4, Italics mine). But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit
of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if
Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness
(Rom. 8:9, 10). You still retain a fallen nature, but you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, by Christ in
your heart, righteousness in your heart. Therefore, brethren, we are debtorsnot to the flesh, to
live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit
you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God (Rom. 8:12-14). What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not
pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith (Rom. 9:30).
A person who is filled with the Holy Spirit cannot rightly be described as wicked, or
selfish. Justification is transformation. If we remain wicked after justification, we are lost,
because the wicked have no part in the Kingdom of Christ (Dan. 12:10; Mal. 4:1; Matt. 13:37-43;
25:45, 46; 2 Peter 2:7).

Pages 19-21: This word justify. It never means to make righteous inside. It means,
strictly, to count righteous. Its very important to know that. The whole of true religion
revolves around this issue. . . . Does justify mean To make me righteous inside? If it does,
then Ive never been truly justified, never truly converted, because Im not altogether
righteous inside. . . . However, in both Old and New Testaments, the word justify always
means the opposite of condemn. If you condemn someone, you dont make them bad, you
declare them bad. In the same way, when you justify someone, you dont make them
righteous inside, you declare them righteous. . . . Justification is over you all the time, like the
sun. Like the pillar of cloud in the desert that sheltered Israel from the heat. . . . If you are
looking to Jesus, justification is never repeated in the sense of new justification. Justification
is over you all the time.
See also Ford, pages 155, 156, 158, 246.

Ford repeats these ideas constantly. His definition of justification is basic to his
understanding of the gospel. The question is, how does the Bible define justification? Is it, as Ford
argues, only a legal heavenly declaration, or is it also transformation of the heart of the believer?
The lexical definition of dikaioo (to justify) is to do justice, vindicate, become righteous,
make free or pure.Arndt and Gingrich.
According to Scripture, justification involves three elements:
1. Justification is forgiveness for past sin:
Acts 13:38, 39 translates literally from the Greek text: Therefore let it be known to you,
men, brothers, that through this Man is proclaimed to you the forgiveness of sins from all things
[from] which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses; by this man every one who
believes is justified.
The message is that Christs forgiveness is justification which could not be supplied by the

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law.
Romans 4:1-8 identifies justification with forgiveness. In this passage justification =
imputation of righteousness = forgiveness. Having spoken of justification and imputation, Paul
illustrates by quoting Psalm 32:1, 2: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and
whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.
What is involved in Gods forgiveness? God wipes out our guilt because Jesus suffered for
it on Calvary (Isa. 53; 1 John 2:2). But when God forgives, He transforms the believer.
Pardon and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith the believer passes
from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ
Jesus. . . . Thus man, pardoned, and clothed with the beautiful garments of Christs righteousness,
stands faultless before God.Ellen G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1070.
Gods forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation.
It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that
transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, Create in me a
clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10. And again he says, As far as
the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12.
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 114.
Justification = forgiveness. But forgiveness = the outflow of redeeming love that
transforms the heart. Therefore justification is also the outflow of redeeming love that transforms
the heart. Justification is both in heaven and in the heart of the believer. When God justifies you,
He changes your heart. Justification is not only a legal declaration; it is a spiritual experience that
you have when you surrender your life to Jesus.
2. Justification is the righteousness of Christ counted, imputed, reckoned for the believer
(Rom. 4:3, 23-25). This is discussed in some detail above. The verb to impute is logizomai. This
verb and its Hebrew equivalent, as used throughout Scripture, refer to both a legal declaration and
an actual gift. Pauls point in Romans 4 is that justification, which is imputation of righteousness,
is a heavenly declaration of an actual gift of righteousness. When Jesus imputes His righteousness
to you, He simultaneously declares and makes you righteous by bestowing the Holy Spirit upon
you. The same teaching is clearly outlined in Galatians 3:1-14. The blessing of Abraham (verse
14) was justification, imputation of righteousness by faith. The blessing of Abraham comes upon
the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. You
cant separate the transforming work of the Spirit from justification (imputation of righteousness).
Imputation of righteousness is not only a legal declaration in heaven; it involves a heart change for
the believer in Jesus Christ.
3. Justification involves the righteousness of Christ bestowed upon the believer in the new
birth experience.
Titus 3:5-7 translates literally from the Greek text: Not by works in righteousness which
we did, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of rebirth (paliggenesias), and
renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that, having been justified by His grace, we might be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
He saved us . . . so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs. (Titus
3:5-7, NIV). He saved us when He justified us. How did He do that? By the washing of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit (verse 5, NIV). Justification is the new birth experience. Jesus

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said, You must be born again. You are not saved, not justified, until you are born again.
Justification is not only a legal declaration in heaven. It is a legal declaration of the new birth
granted to the believer.
In telling Nicodemus how to be saved, Jesus said: You must be born again (John 3:7). He
used the imagery of the new birth. In explaining how we are saved, Paul uses the imagery of a law
court; justification is the declaration of a judge, a declaration that declares innocence. Both Jesus
and Paul are speaking of salvation; they simply use different imagery. If Ford were correct, the new
birth would not be salvation; it would be only the result of salvation. In his view justification is
salvation, and the new birth is the result which begins the process of sanctification. If that were so,
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus how to be saved.
In Romans 10:6-10, Paul defines righteousness by faith. But the righteousness of faith
speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring
Christ down from above) or Who will descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from
the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart
(that is, the word of faith which we preach).
The word that is in your mouth and heart is the law of God, referred to in Deuteronomy
30:11-14. When Gods law is in your heart, you are experiencing righteousness by faith.
Righteousness by faith is not only a legal matter, as Ford asserts. It is a heart experience. When
God justifies you, He writes His law on your heart.
Paul presents the same teaching in Galatians 2 and 3. Justification is by faith, not by works
of law (Gal. 2:16). When I am justified, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (verse 20).
Then Paul asks the crucial question. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3). They began with justification (Gal. 2:16-21).
They began with the Spirit. Justification is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of
the believer. And this transformation was the blessing of Abraham given to the believing
Gentiles so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:14).
Ellen White saw justification as the new birth:
As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates
himself before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given him. He becomes a new creature in
Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. God Himself is the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Rom. 3:26. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. Rom.
8:30. Christs Object Lessons, p. 163.
Those who know not what it is to have an experience in the things of God, who know not
what it is to be justified by faith, who have not the witness of the Spirit that they are accepted by
Jesus Christ, are in need of being born again.Signs of the Times, March 8, 1910.
Martin Luther saw justification as involving the new birth experience:
Then what does justify? Hearing the voice of the Bridegroom, hearing the proclamation of
faithwhen this is heard, it justifies. Why? Because it brings the Holy Spirit who justifies.
Luthers Works, vol. 26, p. 208.
In the introduction to his sermons on John, chapter 3, the chapter that describes the new
birth, Luther wrote: This chapter stresses above all else that sublime topic: faith in Christ, which
alone justifies us before God.LW, vol. 22, p. 275.

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 In his Theses on Faith and Law, 1535, Luther wrote: Justification is in reality a kind of
rebirth in newness, as John says: who believe in his name and were born of God [John 1:12-13; 1
John 5:1].-- Theses Concerning Faith and Law, LW, vol. 34, p. 113.
Among the distinguished teachers there are some who say that forgiveness of sins and
justification by grace consist entirely on divine imputation, that is, in Gods accounting it sufficient
that he to whom He reckons or does not reckon sin is justified or not justified from his sins by this. .
. . If this were true, the whole New Testament would be nothing and in vain. And Christ would
have labored foolishly and uselessly by suffering for sin. Then even God Himself would have
practiced mere humbug and trickery unnecessarily. . . . Against this horrible, terrible understanding
and error the holy apostle has the custom of always referring to faith in Christ.WA. X/1, 1, 468
(Church Postil, Epistle for New Years Day, 1522); cited by Robin Leaver, Luther on Justification
(St. Louis: Concordia, 1975), p. 58.
The start of a new creature accompanies this faith and the battle against the sin of the flesh,
which this same faith in Christ both pardons and conquers.The Disputation Concerning
Justification, LW, vol. 34, p. 153.
Natural motion is our motion, but this movement of justification is the work of God in us,
to which our propositions refer.The Disputation Concerning Justification, LW, vol. 34, p. 177.
Explaining what is meant by the righteousness of God being outside of us, Luther wrote:
The phrase is grammatical. To be outside of us means not to be out of our powers. Righteousness
is our possession, to be sure, since it was given to us out of mercy. Nevertheless, it is foreign to us,
because we have not merited it.The Disputation Concerning Justification, LW, vol. 34, p. 178.

Ford writes: If you condemn someone, you dont make them bad, you declare
them bad. In the same way, when you justify someone, you dont make them righteous inside,
you declare them righteous. (p. 19).

When someone is condemned, they are not made bad; they are condemned because they are
bad. They are declared to be what they are. The legal declaration is a true to fact declaration. Even
so, when God justifies us He declares what He simultaneously makes us; it is a true to fact
declaration. The Bible speaks of God Himself being justified (Rom. 3:4; Psalm 51:4). God is not
made righteous when He is justified. He is already righteous. He is declared to be exactly what He
is. When God justifies us by the new birth experience (Titus 3:5-7), He makes us righteous and
declares us to be what He has made us.

Ford writes: Justification is over you all the time, like the sun. Like the pillar
of cloud in the desert that sheltered Israel from the heat. . . . If you are looking to Jesus,
justification is never repeated in the sense of a new justification. Justification is over you all
the time. (pp. 20, 21)
Justification is forgiveness (Acts 13:38, 39; Rom. 4:1-8). If we need forgiveness, we need
justification. Sin separates from God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear (Ps.
66:18). But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face
from you (Isa. 59:2; cf. Josh. 7:12; Isa. 64:7). But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That is exactly what

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justification is, forgiveness that involves cleansing from sin.
Ford would respond by saying that if we need justification every time we sin, we are in and
out of Christ. But when believers fall into a sin that is contrary to the upward trend of their lives,
they are not divested of all the spiritual qualities that have been bestowed upon them by conversion.
They are not projected back into their pre-regeneration state. But, since sin separates from God, for
our relationship with Him to be restored after we have sinned, we need to ask for and receive
forgiveness. This is justification by faith. Born-again Christians will ask God for forgiveness as
soon they become aware that they have sinned. He who sins is of the devil (1 John 3:8).
Habitual sin is of the devil, and one sin is of the devil. It certainly is not of God! And for us to
have justification, that one sin must be confessed and forgiven.
Paul instructed the Colossian believers to put away the sins that were characteristic of their
former lives of habitual sinning, but he didnt suggest that these sins committed by born-again
Christians do not change their standing with God. Consider Pauls teaching:
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is,
sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also
will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these
things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you also once walked
when you lived in them. But now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man
with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image
of Him who created him (Col. 3:1-10, italics supplied).
Pauls obvious point is that the converted believer who falls into sin is in danger of the
wrath of God which is coming upon the sons of disobedience. Born-again believers dont have
some sort of diplomatic immunity allowing them to sin with impunity. Sin separates from God; sin
destroys our right relationship with Him and destroys our legal standing with Him.
Paul warned the Roman Christians in similar terms:
Therefore, brethren, we are debtorsnot to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if
you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God (Rom.
8:12-14).
Hence, those who are not led by the Spirit of God are not sons of God, and the Spirit of God
never leads us into sin. We have spiritual life when by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of
the body. If we dont do that we will die. In other words, our spiritual life and our spiritual
standing with God are inseparably connected. You cannot have right standing with God unless by
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body. And the deeds of the body are the sins into
which Satan would lead us. Such deeds inevitably separate us from God.
One sin unrepented of is enough to close the gates of heaven against you. It was because
man could not be saved with one stain of sin upon him, that Jesus came to die on Calvarys cross.
Ellen White, Signs of the Times, 3-17-1890.
Every day that you remain in sin, you are in Satans ranks; and should you sicken and die
without repentance, you would be lost.Ellen White, Review and Herald, 13-34-1889.
Your only safely is in coming to Christ, and ceasing from sin this very moment. The sweet

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voice of mercy is sounding in your ears today, but who can tell if it will sound tomorrow.ST, 8-
29-1892.
He that commits sin is of the devil. Every transgression brings the soul into condemnation
and provokes the divine displeasure. The thoughts of the heart are discerned of God. When impure
thoughts are cherished, they need not be expressed by word or act to consumate sin and bring the
soul into condemnation. Its purity is defiled, and the tempter has triumphed.4T, p. 623. (Italics
supplied; cf. Matt. 5:27-30.)
The helpless sinner must cling to Christ as his only hope. If he lets go his hold for a
moment, he imperils his own soul and the souls of others. Only in the exercise of living faith are
we safe. But the commission of any known sin, the neglect of known duties, at home or abroad, will
destroy faith, and disconnect the soul from God.The Faith I Live By, p. 138.
Let none deceive themselves with the belief that they can become holy while willfully
violating one of Gods requirements. The commission of a known sin silences the witnessing voice
of the Spirit and separates the soul from God. Sin is the transgression of the law. And whoever
sinneth [transgresseth the law] hath not seen Him, neither known Him. 1 John 3:6. Though John in
his epistles dwells so fully upon love, yet he does not hesitate to reveal the true character of that
class who claim to be sanctified while living in transgression of the law of God. He that saith, I
know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoso
keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. 1 John 2:4, 5. Here is the test of
every mans profession. We cannot accord holiness to any man without bringing him to the
measurement of Gods only standard of holiness in heaven and in earth.The Great Controversy,
p. 472. (Italics supplied.)
The clear message in Scripture and in the writings of Ellen White is that we lose
justification when we sin. Justification is not some sort of umbrella over us even when we are
committing sin. We are not saved when we are sinning.
Having said this, it is important to point out that not all imperfection is sin. Everything
we do is tinged with human imperfection. All sin is imperfection; but not all imperfection is sin.
We will be imperfect human beings, with imperfect minds and bodies until Jesus comes. Only then
will this corruptible . . . put on incorruption (1 Cor. 15:53). But this does not imply that we will
sin till Jesus comes. Sin is breaking Gods law. All our works are imperfect because our minds and
bodies are imperfect, but not all our imperfect works are disobedience to Gods law.
Martin Luther expressed it biblically when he wrote: Works that result from the Word and
are done in faith are perfect in the eyes of God, no matter what the world thinks about them.
Luthers Works, vol. 3, p. 318.

Pages 21, 22: Justification has to do with your position. Sanctification with your
condition. Justification has to do with your status. Sanctification with your state. . . . Your
status is always the same in Christperfect. Your state is up and down, in and out, a mess.
Anyone honestly looking within themselves cannot but be discouraged. . . . So its very
important to distinguish but not separate these two things: justification and sanctification.
One adheres on the outside, the other inheres on the inside. One is based on what Christ did
for me. The other is based on what Christ does in me. The first is perfect, complete and 100
percent. The second isnt, because God is doing it in me, and thats miserable terrain to work

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in. . . . The Christian message is Christ for mewhat Christ has already done. The Christian
life is Christ in mewhat happens after conversion.
Compare Fords statements regarding justification and sanctification on pages 37-40,
58, 247, 248-251, 255, 303, 330, 331.

Fords view is that justification determines our status or legal standing with God, and
sanctification determines our spiritual state. Hence, justification is always objective, outside of us,
what God does for us, while sanctification is what goes in our hearts, what God does in us. In this
view righteousness by faith is only what God does for us in justification; sanctification, which is
Gods work within us, is not part of righteousness by faith. These sentiments are expressed a
number of times in his book.
It must be pointed out that the distinction between justification being for us and
sanctification being in us is never made in Scripture. As we have already pointed out from
Scripture, justification is Gods forgiveness, which involves transformation of heart. Justification is
imputation of righteousness, which is a declaration of a transformation. Justification is the new
birth experience, which is transformation of character produced by the Holy Spirit in the heart of
the believer. To give a narrow definition of justification, as Ford does, denies the experiential
element in justification. His definition denies the Bible teaching that justification is both objective
and subjective. Justification is both what God does for and in us. How could Titus 3:5-7 be true
if this were not so? Since the Galatians began with the Spirit, they began with justification (Gal.
2:16; 3:3). They began with a spiritual experience that was both objective and subjective, both
Gods external act and His transforming work in their hearts.
In her wonderful book, The Desire of Ages, Ellen White explains this issue in thoroughly
biblical terms. Writing of the work of John the Baptist, she says:
John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their
character and life. Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with
Gods law, they were not His people.p. 107.
This being so, it is not possible to have spiritual standing or status with God unless our
character and life are right with Him. Our spiritual state must be right if we are to have a right
standing or status. It is unbiblical to assert that the legal status of the believer is always perfect,
even when his or her spiritual state is a mess.
The Apostle Paul wrote of the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from
generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
(Col. 1:26, 27, italics supplied). Your see, salvation is Christ in you the hope of glory. By
contrast, Fords view is that salvation is Christ outside of you the hope of glory.
Paul adds to his instruction for the Colossians. He goes on to say: Him [Christ] we preach,
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect
[teleion] in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in
me mightily. (Col. 1:28, 29). Paul was preaching Christ in you, the hope of glory, so that he
could present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Then Christ in you the hope of glory is the good
news that, because of His indwelling in your heart, you can be perfect in Christ Jesus. When the
Holy Spirit of Christ is reigning in your heart you have the gift of righteousness (Rom. 8:9, 10).

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When Christ is reigning by His Spirit in your heart you have present perfection in Christ. You are
complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Col. 2:10). The Greek verb
translated complete in this verse is pleroo, which means to make full, fill, complete, bring
to completion, finish, bring to an end. (Arndt and Gingrich). This verb is sometimes translated
perfect (see Rev. 3:2 in both the KJV and RSV, and Col. 4:12 in the KJV). Colossians 2:10 can
be translated: You have been made full in Him, or You have been perfected in Him. This
doesnt imply that believers have reached the end of the process of sanctification, or that they are
divested of their fallen natures, or that they may not fall into sin contrary to the trend of their lives.
But what it does imply is that where and when the perfect Holy Spirit is reigning, there is holiness
and perfection. When the Holy Spirit is in charge of our minds and bodies we have present holiness
and perfection in Christ. Our minds and bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19,
20). As long as He is in charge, these temples, our minds and bodies, are free from spiritual
defilement. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is
holy, which temple you are (1 Cor. 3:17).
This brings us to the Bible definition of sanctification. In justification, the Holy Spirit
bestows righteousness upon the believer. Paul writes in Romans 8:9: But you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. That is to say, you are not lost, you not
unjustified, you are not lacking the new-birth experience if you have the gift of the Spirit. But if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (verse 9, last part). So unless you have the
Spirit in your heart, you dont belong to Christ. The justified believer has the Spirit reigning in his
or her heart. The next verse (verse 10) informs us that the Spirit in you is Christ in you, is
righteousness in you. Justification by the Holy Spirit involves the gift of righteousness to your
heart by the gift of the Holy Spirit. (See also Rom. 10:6-10.)
The exciting truth is that the gift of Christs righteousness in justification is what makes
us holy. Romans 6:19 spells this out: For just as you presented your members as slaves of
uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as
slaves of righteousness for holiness. We became willing slaves of righteousness when we were
justified. Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (verse 18). The gift
of righteousness is justification. But this gift by which we became slaves of righteousness was for
holiness. The gift of righteousness bestowed holiness upon us. The same thought is contained in
verse 22: But now having been set free from sin [in justification], having become slaves of God,
you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life. Therefore the gift of everlasting life is
for those who, by becoming slaves of righteousness, have the fruit of holiness. You became a
slave of righteousness when you were justified, and this gift is what makes you holy.
The word holiness translates the Greek word hagiasmos, that also means
sanctification. This word occurs 10 times in the New Testament. Five times in the KJV it is
translated holiness (Rom. 6:19, 22; 1 Thess. 4:7; 1 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 12:14). And five times it is
translated sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 4:3, 4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2).
Righteousness is holiness, likeness to God, and God is love. 1 John 4:16. It is conformity
to the law of God for all Thy commandments are righteousness, (Psalm 119:172), and love is the
fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10). Righteousness is love, and love is the light and life of God.
The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 18.
Since righteousness is holiness, and we receive righteousness when we receive Christ, we

15
receive holiness when we receive Christ. We receive Christ and His righteousness when we are
justified. Therefore, we receive holiness when we are justified. Since the Greek word for
holiness also means sanctification, when we are justified, we are also sanctified.
When the thief on the cross accepted Christ, he was both justified and sanctified.
Hebrews 12:14 speaks of holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. But Jesus said the
dying thief would see the Lord; He will be with Christ in Paradise. Thus, the dying thief had
received the gift of holiness, which is sanctification. He was both justified (born-again) and
sanctified when He surrendered his heart to Christ. Without that gift of holiness, the thief could not
have had salvationbecause no one who does not have holiness will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). The
gift of holiness is essential to salvation. Therefore the gift of holiness, which is the immediate and
long term result of justification, is part of righteousness and salvation by faith in Christ.
Some would have us believe that justification is by faith alone and sanctification is by
faith plus human works. Therefore, they say, justification is righteousness by faith and
sanctification is not righteousness by faith. The real truth is that sanctification (holiness) is the gift
of the Holy Spirit to the person who has faith. Never does the Bible suggest that we make ourselves
holy. Romans 15:16 speaks of the Gentiles sanctified by the Holy Spirit. God chooses the
believers for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth (2 Thess. 2:13).
The elect are those who enjoy sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2).
In her book, The Great Controversy, Ellen White wrote:
Paul teaches that believers are to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:16. What
is the work of the Holy Spirit? Jesus told His disciples: When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He
will guide you into all truth. John 16:13. And the psalmist says: Thy law is the truth. By the
word and the Spirit of God are opened to men the great principles of righteousness embodied in His
law. And since the law of God is holy, and just, and good, a transcript of the divine perfection, it
follows that a character formed by obedience to that law will be holy. Christ is a perfect example of
such a character. He says: I have kept My Fathers commandments. I do always those things
that please Him. John 15:10; 8:29. The followers of Christ are to become like Himby the grace
of God to form characters in harmony with the principles of His holy law. This is Bible
sanctification.
This work can be accomplished only through faith in Christ, by the power of the indwelling
Spirit of God.The Great Controversy, p. 469.
The soul is to be sanctified through the truth. And this also is accomplished through faith.
For it is only by the grace of Christ, which we receive through faith, that the character can be
transformed.Selected Messages, book 3, p. 191.
Christ alone can help us and give us the victory. Christ must be all in all to us, He must
dwell in the heart, His life must circulate through us as the blood circulates through the veins. His
Spirit must be a vitalizing power that will cause us to influence others to become Christlike and
holy.Ellen G. White Comments, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1144.
The point is that holiness (sanctification) is by faith alone in the same sense that
justification is by faith alone. We must strenuously resist evil (James 4:7, 8; Heb. 12:14), but the
Holy Spirit gives the victory. He alone keeps us in conformity to the will of God. Our resistance of
evil is an act of faith, but it is the Holy Spirit who relieves our burden of sin.
Sanctification is present holiness in Christ, because of the Holy Spirits presence in the

16
heart of the believer. Sanctification is often thought of as growth in holiness. And so it is! But it
is also the experience of holiness enjoyed by the believer now. There are many more passages in
the New Testament that use the verb to sanctify (hagiazo) in the sense of present holiness in
Christ than there are passages that use it in reference to spiritual growth. This is not in any way to
depreciate the great importance of spiritual growth. Nevertheless, it is vital to accept the Bible truth
that the divinely indwelt Christian has present holiness (sanctification) in Christ.
Acts 26:18 speaks of those who have been sanctified by faith. (Literal translation). In
Romans 15:16, Paul wrote of the Gentiles having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (Literal
translation). In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul wrote of the Corinthians as having been sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called saints [or holy ones]. Yet these church members were divided by controversy
and prejudice. The point is that they were spoiling the beautiful gift of holiness given by the Holy
Spirit. The RSV correctly translates 1 Corinthians 6:11: You were washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. As we have
seen, Colossians 2:10 translates from the Greek, You have been made complete [perfect] in Him.
Heb. 10:10 reads: We have been sanctified.
Justification is Christ bestowed; sanctification is Christ possessed. Justification is Christs
gift of Himself to us every day. Sanctification (holiness) is Christ possessed in our hearts every
day. Sanctification is the state of present holiness in Christ enjoyed by the justified believer.
True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character.6T, 350.
No man receives holiness as a birthright, or as a gift from any other human being. Holiness
is the gift of God through Christ. Those who receive the Saviour become sons of God. They are
His spiritual children, born again, renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Their minds are
changed. With clearer vision they behold eternal realities. They are adopted into Gods family, and
they become conformed to His likeness, changed by His Spirit from glory to glory. From
cherishing supreme love for self, they come to cherish supreme love for God and for Christ. . . .
Sanctification is a state of holiness, without and within, being holy and without reserve the
Lords, not in form, but in truth. Every impurity of thought, every lustful passion, separates the soul
from God; for Christ can never put His robe of righteousness upon a sinner to hide his deformity.
Our High Calling, p. 214. (Italics supplied.)
Sanctification is also growth in holiness caused by the constant reception of the Holy
Spirit into the heart.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers: May the Lord make you increase
and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your
hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with
all His saints (1 Thess. 3:12, 13).
Thus a work of spiritual growth is to be accomplished for Gods people before the coming
of Jesus. Paul continues: Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you
should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please
God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will
of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should
know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the
Gentiles who do not know God: that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this
matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For
God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject

17
man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 4:1-8, italics supplied).
Pauls message is that sanctification is holiness given to us by the Holy Spirit. And this gift
of holiness is to be a more and more experience as we come nearer and nearer to the Lord. The
result is the exclusion from our lives of the sins of the flesh and any other sins that would destroy
our inner peace and holiness.
The same experience of constant spiritual growth for Gods children is emphasized in 2
Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face [that is, with the veil of unbelief removed],
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are to enjoy constant spiritual growth
engendered by the Holy Spiritspiritual growth that brings us progressively into the same image as
the glory of the Lord.
The Apostle Peter chimes in with a warning and an exhortation: You therefore, beloved,
since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness,
being led away with the error of the wicked: but grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen (2 Peter 3:17, 18).
In Scripture, grace is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ given to us by the Holy Spirit,
making possible constant spiritual growth (see 1 Cor. 1:4-9; 15:10; 2 Cor. 8:1, 2; 9:8, 14; Gal. 2:9;
2 Tim. 2:1; Heb. 13:9; 2 Peter 3:18).
We may summarize the relationship between justification and sanctification as follows:
1. Both justification and sanctification have to do with our position and our condition. Both
have to do with status and state.
2. Your status or standing with God is not right unless your spiritual state is right.
3. It is not Gods plan or intention that our spiritual state should be up and down, in and
out, a mess.
4. Justification by faith causes sanctification by faith. You cant have one without the other.
The gift of Christs righteousness in justification makes you holy or sanctified. Both are
righteousness by faith alone!
5. The Christian message is what Christ has done for and in us. The Christian life is what
Christ is currently continuing to do for and in us.
6. Justification is conversion, the new-birth experience, involving a heavenly declaration of
a heart transformation. This experience is the work of the Holy Spirit, not our work. And His work
of transformation is what sanctifies or makes us holy.
7. You cant separate justification and sanctification. Justification is Christ bestowed;
sanctification is Christ possessed. You have the possession because you have received the
bestowal. And this possession involves present holiness in Christ and growth in holiness in Christ.

Page 25: First, Paul dealt with pagans, the irreligious, the gentiles. Theyre lost, he
said. Now, second, he comes to the religious, and he says, Theyre lost. Third, in chapter 3,
Paul says, Lets look at the whole world. And he says, All are lost.
All Are Lost
Look at chapter 3. Beginning with verse 9, Paul quotes 14 statements from the Old
Testament.
Page 27: I appreciate the verse that says, There is no difference, for all have sinned

18
(Romans 3:22-23 NIV). Theres no difference between any of us: irreligious, pagan, gentile,
Jew, religious. There are differences in the degree of sin. Theres no difference in the fact of
sin.
In most countries, it makes no difference whether you murder one person or 30. The
penaltys the samedeath! Paul has completed his lawyers brief. The whole human race is
guilty! All are worthy of deatheternal death!
See also Fords statements on Romans 3 on page 50.

In Romans, chapter 3, Paul summarizes his first major point in his epistle to the Romans.
He reemphasizes that all human beings are sinners in need of a Savior. Jews and Gentiles, whoever
they are, and wherever they are, need the power of God to save them from sin. And only through
the sacrifice and atoning ministry of Jesus Christ can we be saved from sin, released from guilt, and
given the power to live as God has in mind for us.
Paul writes: We have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin
(Rom. 3:9). Then he adds a passage from Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. There is none righteous, no,
not one (Romans 3:10).
What Paul means is that there is no person who does not know Christ as a personal Savior
who is righteous. Righteousness is a gift from God to those who believe in Jesus Christ. Paul says
it himself in Romans 1:17 (NRSV): In it [that is, in the gospel] the righteousness of God is
revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, The one who is righteous will live by faith. The
Greek translates literally: The righteous person shall live by faith.
That means that if you are living by faith, you are a righteous person; and if you are a
righteous person, you are living by faith. Again Paul speaks of justified, born-again Christians in
Romans 6:18: Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. That means
that those who are justified, born again, are willing slaves of righteousness. Again in Romans
8:9,10, Paul points out that the Holy Spirit in your heart is Christ in your heart, is righteousness in
your heart.
So when Paul says in Romans 3:10 that there is none righteous, no, not one, he means that
no unjustified, unborn-again person is righteous. But the believer in Jesus Christ who is indwelt by
His Holy Spirit has the gift of his righteousness.
Then in Romans 3:11, Paul adds, There is none who understands. But elsewhere, Paul
makes it clear that those who believe in Jesus Christ, who have His Holy Spirit as their Teacher and
Guide, do understand the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says that God reveals His mysteries to
us through His Spirit. And in Ephesians 3:16-19, Paul says that he prays that He would grant
you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and
heightto know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God.
So believers who are indwelt by Christs Holy Spirit do understand Gods will and have the
power to follow it. So when Paul says in Romans 3:11, There is none who understands, he means
that there is none who is not surrendered to Jesus Christ who understands.
Likewise when he says, There is none who seeks after God (Romans 3:11), he is referring

19
to unjustified people who do not believe in Jesus Christ. And when he says in verse 12, There is
none who does good, no, not one, he is referring to unbelievers who do not have the power to do
works that are good in the sight of God. But believers in Jesus Christ do have that power. 1 John
2:29 says: If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does righteousness has
been born of him. So the born-again Christian does works that in the sight of God are righteous.
Then in Romans 3, verses 13-18, Paul continues quoting the Old Testament to describe the
lost state of those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Apart from Jesus Christ,
there is no peace or spiritual power or capacity to overcome sin. When Christ is not reigning in
your heart, the devil is, and the result is addiction to sin and misery. But when Christ is reigning
within, you have the power of His Holy Spirit to resist sin and to overcome it. Because He died for
you, He is constantly available as the source of the power to overcome.
It is true that there is no difference; for all have sinned (Rom. 3:22, 23) in the past. But it
is an unbiblical exaggeration to say, Theres no difference between any of us: irreligious, pagan,
gentile, Jew, religious. The difference between the unjustified unbeliever and the justified believer
is dramatic. The one has no fellowship with Christ and no power to overcome sin. The other has
fellowship with Christ that enables him or her to live in accord with the will of God.

Page 32: When Christ came to the end of his days on earth, he never asked his
disciples to remember his miracles. He never asked them to remember his wonderful words.
He never asked them to remember his beautiful life. He said, Remember my death.
See also Ford, p. 52.

Certainly, at the last supper Jesus urged His disciples to remember His death. But He also
asked them to remember His words and works. Jesus said, He who does not love Me does not
keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Fathers who sent me (John
14:24). He promised that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you (verse 26). Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, He will testify of
Me (John 15:26). Jesus added: When He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all
truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you
(John 16:13, 14). Jesus certainly wanted His followers to remember His works. He said: I say to
you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he
will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:12-14).

Page 55: Never forget, the Old Testament Day of Atonement pointed to the Christ
event, to the cross of Calvary. It is wrong to indulge in calendrical shuffling, trying to bring
the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement down to the nineteenth century.
The ancient Day of Atonement is not talking about the nineteenth century. It points
to the cross of Christ. Thats where the final, full atonement was made. Calvary was the only
place of complete atonement. We look only to Calvary, not to an event or date invented by
man.
Thats a vital and basic point.

20
 This statement reveals the fact, of which some of us have been aware for a long time, that
Fords view of justification at the cross leads him to reject the Daniel and Revelation teaching of
the pre-advent, investigative judgment. If you accept Fords teaching of legal justification at the
cross, logically you should reject the Bible teaching concerning the pre-advent, investigative
judgment. If justification is salvation and is only a heavenly legal declaration, why would the Lord
choose to judge us by our works? Such a judgment would be irrelevant. Fords view of salvation
by faith has led him to reject the Adventist interpretation of Daniel 7 and 8 and other passages
dealing with the pre-advent judgment. To say, as some have, that Ford is right on righteousness by
faith but wrong on the judgment, fails to recognize that his view of righteousness by faith is the
premise on the basis of which he rejects the pre-advent judgment message.
For an exposition of the Bible teaching on the pre-advent investigative judgment see Roy
Ganes book, Altar Call, Diadem: Andrews University Seminary, Berrien Springs, Michigan, 1999.
See also Erwin Ganes book, You Ask, God Answers (available from Amazing Facts), chapter 10,
How, When, and Why Does God Judge His People? pp. 177-198.

Page 87: We were all in Adam and Eve when they sinned. Seminally, we were there.
Thus, by the sin of one, condemnation came on all of us. We were born dead. See also page
88.

In the fifth century A.D., Augustine interpreted Romans 5 to mean that when Adam sinned
all men sinned, so that all men are born guilty of Adams sin. The contrast in Romans 5 would be
that when Christ died, all humanity died, and so all humanity was justified at the cross.
That interpretation is faulted by the fact that all humanity was not responsible for Adams
fall. We were not there, nor were we involved. All humanity suffer the results of Adams fall.
Every human being has been born with a fallen nature, with biases, propensities to sin (Ps. 51:5;
58:3). We were not born guilty of Adams sin, despite Augustines contention; we were born
suffering the consequences of Adams sin. In this sense, all humanity sinned when Adam sinned.
We didnt commit the act; we suffer the results of Adams act. Hence, the second half of the
contrast is not that all humanity died when Christ died, but that Christs death makes available to all
humanity justification and life. All humanity were not justified at the cross. The cross makes
justification available to all. Justification must be accepted. Those who receive abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17,
italics supplied). In Scripture, justification is always by faith. We were not there when Jesus died.
We did not die; Christ died for us, and the result is that we can have deliverance from the demands
of our fallen natures, deliverance from sin and eternal death. We can have the wonderful gift of
justification and eternal life.
Our inheritance from Adam can be illustrated by the story of the prostitute who, in plying
her trade, contracted AIDS. She didnt know she had it. Subsequently she married and had a baby.
The baby was born with AIDS. The baby was condemned to have a disease; but the baby was not
in any way guilty of the mothers sin. Just so, we were born with a disease, fallen nature; but we
were not born guilty of Adams sin. Compare 1 Cor. 9:27; Gal. 5:17, 18.

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 Page 102: Sin Does Remain
Sin does remain. There is a residue. There is residual sin in our lives. It will
annoy you. It will tempt you. Its there. But it does not reign. So, keep in mind this one little
line thats so helpful and so true. Sin remains, but it does not reign.
See also Ford, pages 121, 122, 129, 131, 147, 175.

Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Lawlessness always incurs guilt (Ps. 66:18). Where there
is guilt, there is need for forgiveness (justification) (Acts 13:38, 39). Ford has contradicted
Romans, chapter 6. Consider verse 18: And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you
have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:22, 23). If sin remains, individuals have not
been set free from sin. To some degree, they are still enslaved by sin. They do not enjoy the
deliverance that Paul describes in Romans 6.
What does remain for converted, born-again, justified believers? They still retain fallen
natures. Our fallen natures clamor for recognition, but through the power of Christ, we may have
victory. Paul referred to this struggle in 1 Corinthians 9:27: But I discipline my body and bring it
into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Ellen White comments: Pauls sanctification was a constant conflict with self. Said he: I
die daily. His will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of
following inclination, he did the will of God, however unpleasant and crucifying to his nature.4T,
299.
Paul instructs: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another,
so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
the law (Gal. 5:16-18).
The power of the Holy Spirit controls the flesh, our fallen natures. When we walk by the
Spirit we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That means that, if we walk by the Spirit, we have
spiritual victory. We are not under the law as a means of salvation or under its condemnation. Sin
does not remain! When the Spirit of God is in control of our minds and bodies, we are free from
sin.
This is the message of 1 John 3:3-10. The passages means that as long as we permit the
Holy Spirit to reign in our hearts and control our minds and bodies, we are kept from sinning. The
passage does not mean that habitual sin is wrong while occasional sin is acceptable. Jesus, our
Example, was pure (verse 3); He did not commit habitual sin or even one sin (verse 5). All sin,
whether one sin or habitual sin, is lawlessness (verse 4). Any sin is of the devil (verse 8).
In interpreting 1 John 3:3-10, it is vital to understand that the Greek present tense, which is
used in the passage, does not always refer to continuous or habitual action. The aoristic
[punctiliar] present presents the action as a simple event or as a present fact without any reference
to its progress.James A. Brooks and Carlton L. Winbery, Syntax of New Testament Greek
(Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1979), p. 81. The authors cite the use of verbs in
the present that specify single events: Acts 16:18, I commend you; Mark 2:5, Your sins are
forgiven.

22
 First John 3:9 reads: Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in
him: and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. The text is not saying that it is
impossible for a person who has been born again to choose to sin. It is saying that, as long as the
Seed, the Holy Spirit, is in charge, the individual believer is kept from sinning. First John 5:18
teaches the same truth: We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was
born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them (1 John 5:18, NRSV). The One
who was born of God who protects believers is the Lord Jesus Christ. When we trust in His power,
He keeps the evil one from touching us.
This being so, it is quite unbiblical to assert that sin remains in the lives of justified
believers. Their fallen natures remain, but sin does not remain, nor does it reign. You, having been
set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18).
He that committeth sin is of the devil [1 John 3:8]. Every transgression brings the soul
into condemnation and provokes the divine displeasure.4T, 623.

Page 141: Even in your lowest experiences, even in your greatest failures, even when
your heart is broken and your conscience is tormenting you because of some mistake, Paul
says, But there is no condemnation.
See also Ford, pages 159, 166, 171.
Page 161: Still, in the gospel there is no condemnation even when we fail to meet
Gods standards.

Ford has contradicted the clear message of Romans 8. Those not condemned are those in
Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:1, 2). The
consciences of persons who are free from the law of sin wont be tormenting them. If the lowest
experiences, and greatest failures are sins, it can never be said that such persons are walking
according to the Spirit. Certainly there is forgiveness for the sinner. Every sinner can be justified
by coming to the Lord in penitence and repentance. Then there is freedom from condemnation.
But this freedom is not available to individuals who are sinning.
For to be carnally minded is death. . . . The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please
God (Rom. 8:6-8). Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Rom. 8:9).
The person who is sinning does not have the benefit of Christs Spirit controlling his or her
mind and body. Such a person is under condemnation, at enmity against God because of the choice
to sin.
Paul emphasizes the point: Therefore, brethren we are debtorsnot to the flesh, to live
according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you
put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these
are the sons of God (Rom. 8:12-14).
The deeds of the body are sins. We are not free from condemnation while we are
capitulating to the deeds of the body. Only by putting to death the deeds of the body can we have
spiritual life and freedom from condemnation.

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 Page 177: Romans 8 is not about a person different from the one found in Romans 7.
Page 178: Its wrong when people say, We need to get out of Romans 7 and into
Romans 8. Romans 7 is a possibility at any hour of the day for any Christian.

Of course the Romans 7 experience is a possibility for any Christian at any time. The Lord
in His mercy gives us the power of choice. But the Romans 7 person is failing. He exclaims: For
what I will to do, that I do not practice, but what I hate, that I do (Rom. 7:15). I can will what is
right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
(Rom. 7:18, 19, NRSV). The Romans 7 person cries out for deliverance: Who will rescue me
from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (verses 24, 25, NRSV).
By contrast, the Romans 8 person is experiencing forgiveness, spiritual power, freedom
from condemnation, and victory over sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of
sin and of death (verse 2, NRSV). The person who was failing (Rom. 7) could not be said to be
free from the law of sin and death. The Romans 8 person has the just requirement of the law
fulfilled in his life because he is walking not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit
(Rom. 8:4). The Romans 7 person is a captive to the law of sin that dwells in his mind and body
(verse 23). The Romans 7 person is a captive to this body of death (verse 24). The Romans 8
person is not in the flesh but in the Spirit because he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9,
10).
There is a dramatic difference between the experiences of the Romans 7 and 8 persons.
Page 189: The pain and suffering a Christian endures never comes from guilt. Thats
because the gospel has dealt with guilt. . . . Suffering is inevitable, even for Christians. But
your suffering does not come from guilt. Your sins are forgiven in Christ.

Our sins are forgiven in Christ when we confess them (1 John 1:9). Prior to confession we
are guilty, and our guilt sometimes causes us great pain and suffering. David knew all about such
pain and suffering. He wrote: For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have
overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore
my heart fails me (Ps. 40:12). For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden
they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness (Ps. 38:4,
5). For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me (Ps. 51:3).
After Peter had denied his Lord, he was overcome with grief; he went out and wept
bitterly (Matt. 26:75). Present-day Christians, like believers throughout history, often have to bow
down in penitence and ask for forgiveness. When consumed by guilt, our only solace is to be found
in the forgiveness that comes when we confess our sin to God and repent with all our hearts. For
whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10).
Our sin was not forgiven at the cross; the provision was there made for our sins to be forgiven. Our
sins are forgiven when to come to the Lord in penitence.
We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our
shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the
enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No, Christ is at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, These things write I unto you, that ye

24
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1
John 2:1. And do not forget the words of Christ, The Father Himself loveth you. John 16:27. He
desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you
will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the
day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own
power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is the health of our
countenance.Steps to Christ, p.. 64.

Page 241: The truth, of course, is that because we are fallen, because we are born in
sin, because we are born without the Holy Spirit, because the curse of Adams sin is upon us
from the beginning, we cannot perfectly obey a holy law. Not even after conversion. Thats
because every converted person is really two people.
Page 242: So even after conversion, never for one day do I fully fulfill the law of God.
Thats because I still have an old nature.

Once again Ford has contradicted Scripture. The great apostle whom he loves so much
wrote: Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). You cant be more
comprehensive than that!
The apostle Peter instructs likewise: As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all
your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15, 16).
The apostle John had no doubt about the capacity of the believing Christian to obey the law
of God perfectly by dependence upon the Lord: By this we know that we love the children of God,
when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the worldour faith. Who is he
who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:2-5).
In the context of the passage, overcoming the world is keeping the commandments of God.
And this is possible for the born-again believer.
Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15). He didnt say, keep
some of the commandments some of the time. Jesus said: If you keep My commandments, you
will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love.
Jesus kept all the commandments perfectly, and He offers us the power to do the same.
Furthermore, one of the prominent characteristics of the remnant church is that its members keep
the commandments (Rev. 12:17).
Paul urged Timothy to keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christs appearing (1 Tim. 6:14).
The conditions of eternal life, under grace, are just what they were in Edenperfect
righteousness, harmony with God, perfect conformity to the principles of His law. The standard of
character presented in the Old Testament is the same that is presented in the New Testament. This
standard is not one to which we cannot attain. In every command or injunction that God gives there
is a promise, the most positive, underlying the command. God has made provision that we may
become like unto Him, and He will accomplish this for all who do not interpose a perverse will and

25
thus frustrate His grace.Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 76.

Page 244, 245: The righteousness of the law is our good deeds. The righteousness of
the law is that which springs from our best efforts. Its our religiosity, our church-going, our
Sabbath-keeping. Its our health reform, our tithe-paying, our missionary endeavor, our
singing of hymns. Thats all the righteousness of the law, and its all wonderful; but it wont
get us into Gods kingdom, because its never good enough.

In the writings of Paul, the righteousness of the law is the attempt to earn righteousness by
our own works. Israel pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of
righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law
(Rom. 9:31, 32). By contrast: Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness of faith (verse 30). The righteousness of faith involves the
power to obey Gods law: Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the
contrary, we establish the law (Rom. 3:31). Where is the law of God established for the person of
faith? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith
which we preach) (Rom. 10:8). For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel: After those days says the Lord, I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their
hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people (Heb. 8:10).
Works of law are works designed to earn righteousness. Works of faith are good works that
result from our faith/grace fellowship with Christ. If our church-going, our Sabbath-keeping, our
health reform, our tithe-paying, our missionary endeavor, our singing of hymns are an effort to
earn righteousness and salvation, they are righteousness of the law, but if they are the result of
our faith in Christ, they are works of faith that are acceptable to God. Works of faith do not save
us. But works of faith are pleasing to God because they result from our fellowship with Jesus. To
categorize works of faith as the righteousness of the law is a tragic distortion of the Bible
teaching.

Page 252: David was a murderer and an adulterer. Yet he prayed, Restore unto me
the joy of thy salvation (Psalm 51:12 KJV). He didnt pray, Restore to me thy salvation.
Why not? Because David was being held under chastisement, and if he had not repented, he
would have been lost. But he had not been cast off, even after murder and adultery. . . . I
commend to your judgment that the Scripture never says that this great believer was cast off
by his follies. He did lose his joy while he was under the chastisement of God; thats because
we can never escape the temporal consequences of sin.

Ford would have us believe that a person who commits murder and adultery and has not
repented has not lost justification and salvation. The real truth is that David had lost the joy of
salvation because he had lost salvation! Consider his prayer in Psalm 51: Blot out my
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only have I
sinned, and done this evil in your sightthat You may be found just when You speak, and blameless
when You judge. . . . Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter

26
than snow. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
That doesnt sound like a man who has retained justification and salvation. He needs
spiritual cleansing, forgiveness (justification), a change of heart. He knows that he is outside of
Christ and He pleads for restoration.
Ellen White comments:
I was shown that it was when David was pure, and walking in the counsel of God, that God
called him a man after his own heart. When David departed from God, and stained his virtuous
character by his crimes, he was no longer a man after Gods own heart. God did not in the least
degree justify him in his sins, but sent Nathan, His prophet, with dreadful denunciations to David
because he had transgressed the commandment of the Lord. God shows his displeasure at Davids
having a plurality of wives, by visiting him with judgments, and permitting evils to rise up against
him from his own house. The terrible calamity that God permitted to come upon David, who, for
his integrity, was once called a man after Gods own heart, is evidence to after generations that God
would not justify any one in transgressing his commandments; but that he would surely punish the
guilty, however righteous and favored of God they might once have been while they followed the
Lord in purity of heart. When the righteous turn from their righteousness and do evil, their past
righteousness will not save them from the wrath of a just and holy God.Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1,
p. 379. Italics supplied.

Pages 311, 312: However, in reaction to the Reformation the Council of Trent froze
Roman Catholic theology into what is called Tridentine theology. It is this theologystill
official church theologywe now turn to.
Tridentine theology teaches that justification is an infusion (or pouring) of Gods
grace into your life. This grace enables you to live a holy life, thereby allowing God to declare
you righteousbecause you are righteous!
Some of you are familiar with a well-known Lesson Quarterly published four times a
year. It contains daily lessons for people to study. This way they can be ready for the class
discussion on Sabbath.
In recent years, these Lesson Quarterlies have taught the Tridentine view of
justification. That is, when you are converted the Holy Spirit comes in and makes you
righteous. This is a devastating doctrine for people who still have a struggle with sin. And
how many is that? Every converted person has a struggle with sin! . . .
The Tridentine view is that when you are converted, through the medicinal
sacraments such as the Lords Supper and baptism, goodness is poured into you. That wont
meet lifes facts for a minute, because the law of God requires 100 percent righteousness.

In this comment on the Sabbath School quarterly, Ford is referring to the Bible teaching that
I, as the editor, incorporated, that justification includes the new-birth experience. His view is that,
because the Council of Trent (1545-63) regarded justification as the new birth, therefore my
teaching in the quarterly was Roman Catholic.
The truth is that the Roman Catholic concept of the new birth and the biblical concept are
dramatically different! The Council of Trent was much influenced by the writings of the13th
century theologian, Thomas Aquinas. Thomas wrote the famous Summa Theologica, in which he

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attempted a marriage between Bible teaching and the teachings of Aristotle. Thomas argued in
Aristotelian terms that in justification the philosophical matter of the soul is re-formed and made
intrinsically righteous. That is to say, in justification the immortal soul of the believer is re-made so
that the philosophical matter of the soul is now righteous in and of itself. The result is that the
individual now has the capacity to do works that are meritorious in the sight of God. Now the
justified believer with an intrinsically righteous soul can earn favor with God by his good works,
including sacramental works. Trent followed the teachings of Aquinas.
The Bible disagrees with Aquinas and Trent on three counts: (1) We do not have immortal
souls (1 Tim. 6:16; 15:51-54). (2) In the new birth experience (justification), the soul is not made
intrinsically righteous. Our righteousness is always Christ in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom.
8:9, 10), and we retain fallen natures (1 Cor. 9:27; Gal. 5:16-18). (3) Our works are never
meritorious. We cannot earn favor with God by our good works. Our good works are always the
result of our fellowship with Jesus in which His Spirit dwells in our hearts (Rom. 3:31; 8:9, 10).
Hence, the Tridentine concept of the new birth and the biblical concept we incorporated in
the Sabbath School quarterly are vastly different.
Martin Luther saw the difference. As we have already observed, he argued that justification
is the work of the Holy Spirit; it includes the new birth. He opposed the Roman Catholic view that
justification involves the soul becoming righteous in and of itself.
Referring to Galatians 2:20, Luther commented: Here Paul clearly shows how he is alive;
and he states what Christian righteousness is, namely, that righteousness by which Christ lives in
us, not the righteousness that is in our own person. . . .
Not I, but Christ lives in me. Christ is my form, which adorns my faith as color or light
adorns a wall. . . . Christ, he says, is fixed and cemented to me and abides in me. The life that I
now live, He lives in me. Indeed, Christ Himself is the life that I now live. In this way, therefore,
Christ and I are one.. . .
Abiding and living in me, Christ removes and absorbs all the evils that torment and afflict
me. . . .
But so far as justification is concerned, Christ and I must be so closely attached that He
lives in me and I in Him. What a marvelous way of speaking! Because He lives in me, whatever
grace, righteousness, life, peace, and salvation there is in me is all Christs; nevertheless, it is mine
as well, by the cementing and attachment that are through faith, by which we become as one body
in the Spirit. Since Christ lives in me, grace, righteousness, life, and eternal salvation must be
present with Him, and the Law, sin, and death must be absent. . . .
When it comes to justification, therefore, if you divide Christs Person from your own, you
are in the Law; you remain in it and live in yourself, which means that you are dead in the sight of
God and damned by the Law. For you have a faith that is, as the sophists imagine, formed by
love. . . .
But faith must be taught correctly, namely, that by it you are so cemented to Christ that He
and you are as one person, which cannot be separated but remains attached to Him forever and
declares: I am as Christ. And Christ, in turn, says: I am as that sinner who is attached to Me, and
I to him. For by faith we are joined together into one flesh and one bone. Thus, Eph. 5:30 says:
We are members of the body of Christ, of His flesh and of his bones, in such a way that this faith
couples Christ and me more intimately than a husband is coupled to his wife. Therefore this faith
is no idle quality; but it is a thing of such magnitude that it obscures and completely removes those

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foolish dreams of the sophists doctrinethe fiction of a formed faith and love, of merits, our
worthiness, our quality, etc.Luthers Works, vol. 26, pp. 166-169.
Therefore we, too, acknowledge a quality and a formal righteousness in the heart; but we
do not mean love, as the sophists do, but faith, because the heart must behold and grasp nothing but
Christ the Savior.Ibid, p. 132.
Thus Luther opposed the Roman Catholic position that in justification (the new birth) the
soul is made intrinsically righteous and loving. Our righteousness, he asserted biblically, is always
and only Christ in our hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit. I share that view.

Page 316: You are covered by Christs merits. The idea of confession of sin is to
relieve the burden of guilt. Thats all. We do not confess in order to be forgiven. You have
already been forgiven by the cross of Christ. You are just laying hold of it to allay the feeling
of guilt.

We do not confess in order to be forgiven? The statement is absurd and unbiblical! We

confess precisely because we need to be forgiven. 1 John 1:9 states clearly why we confess our sins.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. The Bible doesnt teach that we were forgiven at the cross. The Bible teaches
that we are forgiven when we confess our sins in view of the provision made at the cross. Our
feelings of guilt are allayed only when we are forgiven, and that is when we confess. He who
covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy (Prov.
28:13). In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7). Through this Man [Christ] is preached to you the
forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses (Acts 13:38, 39).

SUMMARY:

1. Desmond Ford teaches that justification is only a legal declaration in heaven that the
righteousness of Christ is counted for the believer. This view of forensic-only, legal-only
justification is the basis of his teaching on righteousness by faith. Justification, he says, is God
declaring us righteous, not making us righteous. If he were correct, God would be declaring
something that is not so. Ford reduces justification to a legal fiction.

2. Ford teaches that justification is always over believers, even when they are sinning. Thus
justification is like an umbrella over us. Our salvation is assured even when we are sinning, as long
as we still believe in Jesus. Thus Ford contradicts the Bible teaching that when we need
forgiveness, we need justification, because forgiveness is justification.

3. Ford teaches that we dont confess our sins to be forgiven. We confess them to be relieved of
our feelings of guilt. Such a view denies the clear Bible teaching that only as we confess our sins
can we be forgiven and thus freed from guilt.

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4. Ford denies that justification is the new birth. In his view, the new birth is the result of
justification. Thus Ford excludes from justification the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. If he
were correct, Jesus didnt tell Nicodemus how to be saved when He said, You must be born
again. He taught Nicodemus the result of salvation, not salvation itself. Ford contradicts the clear
teaching of such passages as Titus 3:5-7; Galatians 3:1-14; Rom. 10:6-10 etc.

5. Ford regards the view that justification is the new birth as Roman Catholic teaching. He asserts
that the Council of Trent (1545-63), which defined official Roman Catholic theology, identified
justification with the new birth. Therefore the teaching of the Sabbath School quarterly in days
gone by, that justification is the new birth, was Roman Catholic. Ford fails to recognize the huge
difference between the Tridentine view of the new birth and that taught in Scripture. Trent
followed Thomas Aquinas in teaching that in justification the believers immortal soul is re-formed,
re-made, so that it is now an intrinsically righteous soul. This soul, now righteous in and of itself,
has the capacity to do works that are meritorious in the sight of God. The Bible contradicts this
teaching on three counts: (1) We do not have immortal souls; (2) Our souls are not made
intrinsically righteous when we are justified. Our righteousness is always Christ counted for us and
Christ living in our hearts by the Holy Spirit; (3) Our works are never meritorious. Our good
works, those that are acceptable in the eyes of God, are the result of the new birth. In no sense do
they earn righteousness or favor with God.

6. Ford teaches that justification has to do with status, legal standing with God, not with spiritual
state. He says that sanctification has to do with state. Thus, he creates a distinction that the Bible
never makes. The Bible teaching is that we have no legal standing with God unless our spiritual
state is right with Him.

7. Ford asserts that when God justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5), they remain ungodly. He denies the
Bible teaching that when God declares a person righteous, He simultaneously makes him so by the
bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon him.

8. Ford teaches that justification is the legal and verbal opposite of condemnation. He says that
condemnation is only a legal declaration. Therefore justification, the opposite, is only a legal
declaration. He fails to see that condemnation is a legal declaration of a fact, a reality. The person
is condemned because he is guilty. The declaration is true to fact. Just so, justification is a
declaration of a reality that the Lord simultaneously creates by bestowing the Holy Spirit upon the
believer.
9. Ford teaches that sanctification is not righteousness by faith alone. In his view, only
justification is righteousness by faith alone. Sanctification is the result of justification, but it is by
faith plus human effort. Thus he contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible that sanctification is the
work of the Holy Spirit, not our work. To Ford, sanctification is a never-ending process of growth
in holiness. He does not see sanctification as present holiness in Christ. Thus he contradicts
Hebrews 12:14 that speaks of holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

10. Ford teaches that when Adam sinned, the whole world sinned, and when Christ died, the whole
world died. He believes that we were in Adam when he sinned and in Christ when He died. Thus

30
the whole world is condemned and guilty before God because of Adams fall. And the whole world
was justified at the cross because when Christ died, we all died. Ford fails to see that we were not
there when Adam sinned. The Augustinian doctrine of inherited guilt is unscriptural. All humans
have inherited fallen natures. Only in that sense were we in Adam when he sinned. We were
condemned to have a disease, but we were not guilty of Adams sin. Moreover, we did not die
when Jesus died. He died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). We were not there. Not
until we accept Him as Savior and Lord do we die to sin (Rom. 6; 7:1-5). The cross made provision
for all to be justified when they believe in Jesus. But the whole world was not justified at the cross.
The sacrifice of Jesus must be accepted for an individual to experience justification by faith (Rom.
5:17). In Scripture, justification is always by faith; forensic justification at the cross is not a Bible
teaching.

11. Ford believes that the law of God, the Ten Commandments cannot be perfectly obeyed, even
by those who are converted. He teaches that everything the believer does is tinged with sin. The
believer is sinning all the time, at least to some degree. Hence, he is saved only because
justification is a legal umbrella over him, ensuring his salvation, despite the sins in his life. Thus
Ford contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible that the Ten Commandments can be perfectly
obeyed (1 John 5:2-5; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Peter 1:15, 16; Rev. 3:2; 12:17; 14:12). He contradicts the
result in the lives of believers of the end-time seal of God (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1-5). By implication, he
also contradicts the Bible teaching of a close of probation beyond which Gods people will be kept
from sinning (Rev. 7:1-3; 8:2-5; 22:11).

12. Ford teaches that we are not condemned, even when we fail to reach Gods standard. He
asserts that David did not lose justification when he sinned. Ford rejects the Bible teaching that sin
separates from God and one sin incurs Gods displeasure and condemnation.

13. Ford declares that everything the believer does is tinged with sin. In fact, he says, in respect to
sin there is no difference between the religious and the irreligious person. He fails to understand
that all sin is imperfection, but not all imperfection is sin. Not all our imperfect works are
disobedience of Gods commandments. Moreover, the truly justified, born-again believer is given
the power to overcome sin. Such power is unavailable to the irreligious.

14. Ford rejects the Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of Daniel 7 and 8, and of various
passages elsewhere in Scripture, that teach a pre-advent judgment beginning in 1844 and ending
with the close of probation. He teaches that the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) was completely
fulfilled at the cross, and that it had nothing to do with 1844 and the judgment that followed. In this
commentary on Romans, he has made it abundantly clear that his teaching on righteousness by faith
is the premise on the basis of which he rejects the investigative judgment doctrine. Thus, those who
say that he is right on righteousness by faith and wrong on the judgment fail to recognize that his
view on the former is the basis for his view on the latter. If you accept his view on righteousness by
faith, logically you should reject the investigative judgment doctrine. If salvation is a legal,
heavenly declaration that is always over believers, why would the Lord judge us by our works, as
the Bible says He does? The Bible teaches that we are judged by our works because they
demonstrate whether or not Gods grace has been effectively operating in our lives.

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15. Ford teaches that Christ is our Substitute in the judgment. Because Christ is perfect, and His
perfection is counted for us, we can be vindicated in the judgment. Thus Ford ignores the Bible
teaching that, although Christs righteousness is counted for us, yet we are judged by our works.
God expects us to be overcomers. See, for example the statement at the conclusion of each of the
messages to the seven churches (Rev. 2 and 3): To him who overcomes. . . .

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